Elastic-fluid turbine.



Nora 22,257. PATENTED JUNE 5, 1906. w. L. R. EMMBT.

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.-

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1904. RENEWED SEPT. 28, 1905 3 SHEETS-SHEET 112 0 (D6) KQ z w (D 40 I 4 j to .E z

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PATENTED JUNE 5, 1906.

W. L. R. EMMET. ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE. APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1904.RENEWED SEPT. 28. 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

Inventor: Wi H123 L.R.Emmeb,

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Witnesses:

PATENTED JUNE 5, 1906.

W. L. R. EMMET. ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE. APPLIUATION FILED-APE. 7, 1904.RENEWED SEPT. 28, 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

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\nvenbor': W Bmmeb,

Witnesses: 7%

- a citizenof the UnitedStates,

Schenectady, county of New York," have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Means for Decreas- 3 ing the Rotation Losses in ElasticFluid' 10' alt whom it may eorwez'm "UNITED TE ATENT oFFn WILLIAM L. a.EMMET, or SOHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL E -E'oran:

COMPANY, A CORPORATION .OF NEW YORK.

ELASTIC-FLUID TURBINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented am 5, 1906.

Applicatiohfiled April 7,1901. Reniwads eptember 29, 1905. Serial No.280.461.-

.' Beit known that 1, WILLIAM L. R. EMME'I,

of I Schenectady,

Turbines, of which the followingis aspecification.

By test it has been demonstrated that there is a certain loss inelastic-fluid turbines due to the fan or blower like action of thebuckets and also to the friction between the I wheel and the'surroundingvbody of motive fiuid.- These are commonly referred to as rotationlossesf and decrease the efficiency T locities.

of the turbine to a greater or less extent, because energy is consumedwhich does not result in useful Work. The losses vary in different typesof machine and also in machines of the same type having differentangular ve' The character of the Wheel construction' also has a bearing.All things be} ing equal, the greater the density ofthe surroundingmedium the greater will be the loss. From this it follows that therotation lossesdue to a wheel subjected to motive fluid at atmosphericpressure or above is ing the rotation losses.

greater than with a wheel by a condenser.

The present invention has for its object to increase the efficiency of aturbine, by decreasdirectly acted upon In carrying out my invention theturbine is provided with as many stages and as many rows ofwheel-buckets as are necessary, and the latter may be'ofany-desiredshape or form and arrangedin any suitable manner. MO1- .tiye fluid issupplied to the buckets by means of a' nozzle or nozzles or otherdischarging devices of any suitable construction. Where two or more rowsof whecl buckets are provided in each stage, intermediate buckets arearranged between adjacent rowsand receive the motive fluid from one rowof buckets and direct it against the nextat the proper angle. Theseintermediates are usually, although not necessarily, arranged to extendonly partly around the wheel or wheels of the high-pressure stageorstages; In the lowe pressure stage "or stages. they mayextend en tirelyaround. the Whe l d ed residing at I State or other motive fluid is ahood, inclosure, or

jvided' for the whole, which may and arranged to inclose all but theactive portion of the wheel or-buckets receiving steam mask, which canbe'constructed in a variety of ways. This hood maybe a part of the mainstructure or it may be made separate.

I have chosen to illustrate as one embodiment a construction whereinwalls having .smooth surfaces are provided on opposite sides of the idlewheel-buckets, or those l Situated in close proximity to, the buckets 4out of range of' the column of steam. dis

charged by the nozzle or; nozzles. These Walls conform in a general wa yto the contour of the wheel and are located in close proximity- Situatedoutside'of the ends of the Wheel-buckets is a cylindrical wall, whichmay extend'entirely around the wheel or only a limited portion thereof.-Wherezthe outer ends of the buckets are closed in by a cover, a

sm'allspace should be left between it and the wall to revent the liquidgiven up by the motive uid from collecting therein and act On the otherhand;

ing as a waterbrake.

the wall must be near. reducing rotationlosses. an escape for theliquid-particles glven'up enough to assist in by the steam orother'motive fluid which may be discharged through the clearances,radial or otherwise, between relatively movable buckets, passages areprovided, and these passages can'convenientlybe formed in the "end wallor between the side walls on opposite sides of the Wheel and the end orsur-- rounding wall. The parts of the hood-exposed to the wheel'shouldlie given a smoothfinishin so far as it is practicable. 'Care shouldalso be exercised in making the wheelbody and attached Where a number ofWheels or a'number of rows ofjwheel-buckets are'provided in a singlestage, it is advantageous to inclose each event of a number of wheels'orrows of buckets being used it simplifies the construction if the wallsadjacent to each row' of wheel- "buckets are joinedtogether ail'd abaseproest onthe: diaphragm between stagesror other support. I may, howeyer,

' In order to provide partssmooth as far as .posslble.

.;wheel'or row in "the'manner specified. In

make the hood, covering, or

mask out of anu mber of pieces orout of a active'inlet side of "hood maybe :mounted on thesam e or v same structure may-be used for closingin'the to place. a rin between each pair in 7 the exhaust side of thelastwheel a space "the wheel toward theshaft.

1 jacent' stage of. lower.

. Wlieeland discharging devicesto a; greater or j "main casing;- and 6dfect of the-wheel-is felt but little or not at all. Owing tothe fac tthat'the f exhaust fluid in the hood is divided into two parts,

1 nozzles or other discharging devices.

.. somewhat smallerthan' the casing, so thatfa chamber can be varied to.suit' the requirements; but it should be large enough to ac- Icor'nmo'date a considerable yoluine of motive 'fluid. "The fluid in saidchamber is quiet, or relatively so, so that in the case of steam acting.

permittedto separate, so thatit canbecol- $5" Y passages: 'To'-' statethejmatter in a different -way, the

iiferent wheela the inactive discharge sideof zonerow, and'the in headjacent row. The I divided into an number of 1 parts tosuit "therequirements", and this. whethfir one or more wheels areprovided in 7each 's age.

[and the first-stage casing is removable like the cover of abox. v

.Where separate wheel-'disksare provided and strung on the same shaft,it is desirable .such manner that'access of r'notiveiilu-Id to thecentral. portion of the wheels is prevented. On.

more or less great is-iormed3dn which exhaust' steam or other"flluidfrom the. wheel is collected. order to 'reducethe friction or drotatlonlosses-at this point,- thelast-side wall orextension. thereof is madedeeper. in the radial dimensionand'is extended well under 1Themotive'fiuid passes'to the second or ad ressure through suitthe ishragni connecting with nozzles" or, o'ther'gdischarging devices.

Since the same construction as'the first is or may be 'fol] owed in asubsequent stage, turablepassages in more effectively .direct the;exhaust motive fluid from one wheel compartment or stage to the next,radially extending passages may be-provided which discharge intO ,1adjacent to the passages leading to the," subsequent The hoo'd;inclosure," or mask is made chamber is' provided which surrounds theless extent and'is filled with motive fluid exhausting from the wheel.The size of-the as the motive fluid the water contained there i. 1n, wh1ch is released 1) expansion, instead'd'f being retained -in a, nelyfdivided state is ected and removed through suitably-formed "idle tnbine-bu'ckets are inclosed by which is locatedwithin the between -thehood andtthe' casing Isa chamber wherein the rotating ef=1 ances r-mask,

the chamber is out of the whirling effect of the wheel, thenecessarytime element is-prc- In one construction'illustrated employed.

which may extend singlepiece. tw o'gormore row of {to be dischargedjobviouslythe more liLQiQ-m -.wheel buckets are em loyed andei her Iture that is removed the less revaporation takes place, and theeflicien'cy'iof the turbine rnask theidle wheelabuckets of each row, as

specified but. certain advantages will follow where the incl'osure isnot so complete, and I aim to embracethis inthe claims. a The arts ofthe hood .rcann t be mainnot be confused with rotary-engineconstruetions wherein the rotary piston engages the walls and receivessteam from aportand after being advanced -a-:;certain angular-distancedischarges the steam into a second port. Obviously the provedconstruction would be fatal to t e op Jeration of a rotary engine. -Itwill be seen that, the turbineis of the multistage type and'jfurtlier,that each stage contams a compound wheel. The wheel may be compounded"smahy times as is necessary to properly bstract the energy from thefluid. stream discharged from the nozzle or nozzles Where more than asingle nozzle is sages, the hood for reducing rotationilqsses, covers acorrespondingly smaller number of;

idle buckets has been changed.

" In order. to prevent objectionable eddying of the exhaust steam orother'motive fluid in the plane of the wheel, a means is providedarallel or substantially parallel to the lastw eel, and on the oppositeside from thewheel the said meansmay'be provided with meansfor,.'conveying-the steam away from thewh'eel-fiange as itfl-ows to theadjacntnozzles; Between the stages Lmay employ one or .more I passage offluid from ons-to the other, 'the matica-lly; v

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments of. myinvention Figure 1 is a artial ve tical section of a vertical-. shafttur ine. 'Fi 2 is a horizontal sec'- tionalview of the same.- fxFig. 3is a perspec--; the view illustratin a part of thehood, toegetherwithithecori uits or passage-ways for tional view of a turbinehaving three rows of vided to permit the minuteparticles of'wdte'rmediates.

said valves being operated by hand or autowheel buckets per stage andadjustable intertamed-1n frictional contact with the revolving wheelbuckets on account of the high speed I ,-.oi. the latter, and henc'etheinvention must composed of one or a group of'pas' I buckets, because theproportion of active torod 'valves'for. regulating the conveyihgmotivefluid from the center of the Tro diaphragm or separator 4, provided withthenecessary passages for conveying steam. or other motive fluid to thesecond-stage no'zzles. 6 represents the shaft, and mounted thereonarewheels 7 each provided with a peripheral row of buckets 8. The wheelsare secured together by bolts19, and-the space between the wheelsis cutoil from the steam- I space by the rings '10, which are let intotherefrom issues as a solid column.

- that rests'on the diaphragm 4 between stages.

grooves formed in the side faces of the'wheel. Supported by the casingsand in line with the wheel-buckets are one or more nozzles '11 ofsuitable construction. These nozzles may be of the expanding ornon-expanding type, as is desired, and are preferably composed of aplurality of closely-associated passages or sections so arranged thatthe fluid dischageiii ac section may be controlled by a separate valveunder the control'of a speed-responsive devioe or two or more sectionsmay have a common valve. Situated in line with the nozzle and covering asomewhat greater are of fluid from. onewheehcompartmentgto an than thenozzle itself are intermediate buckets 12, which are supported by aframe 13, that is bolted to the outside of the casing and may or may notbe adjustable. Detachable observation-plates" 1 L are-provided, so thatthe clearances between the relatively moving parts can be measured orobserved. The intermediate buckets are adjustable toward and away fromthe wheel-buckets in an axial. plane: Situated above the idle buckets ofthe first wheel is a s'mooth'side wall or plate 15., which runs in closeproximity to the wheel and buckets, but is out oi contact therewith.Between the first and second Wheels is a side wall or plate 16, whichcovers the under side of the idle buckets in the first wheel and may,and preferably does, cover the upper side of the idle buckets in thesecond wheel. Situated below the idle buckets of the second wheel is asmooth side wall or.

plate-17, which is'similar to the wall or plate 16. Situated below thelast wheel and covering its idle buckets is the wall or plate 18. Thiswall or plate, together with those previously mentioned, is supported bya base 19,

Surrounding the covers of the various I wheel-buckets and'located insideof the cas ing are cylindric alwalls 2O whichmay extend entirelyaroundthe wheel or only around the idle buckets, as desired. These wallsare situated between adjacent plates, andbetween' I of the the side andend walls are'one or more radially-extending passages 21,. through whichthe water released by expansionof the steam is discharged. The side andendwalls are, preferably formed-in a single casting, the said castingbeing divided into two or more parts, as is desired. 1 have used theterm side walls to designate those walls occupy- 'ing positions at thereceiving and exhaust sides of the wheel-buckets, and while they areshown as flat they (may be curved, if desired, to make them-conform moreclosely to the shape of the wheel. The term end walls is used todesignate those walls which surround the outer ends of the buckets, orthe cover where such a construction isemployed.

Attached to the lower plate 18 and situated between it and the shaft isasegmental plate or wall 22.2 As the wheel rotates within a chambercontaining a more or less dense fluid medium, there is a tendency foreddy-currents to be created in a radial direction from the center of thewheel outward, and this wall or plate decreases these eddy-currents to avery great degree, if, in fact, it does not entirely prevent them.Attached to the underside late 22 are conduits or assagewvays 23, whichconvey motive fluid rom the cen tralportion of the wheel-chamber to theouter portion thereof, where it is discharged into the passages 5,of'which there are several, leading to the nozzles of the second stage.

When it is desired to regulate the passage other, one ormore valves, 24may be provided, which are operated by means external to theWheel-casing. Eachvalveis provided with a flat under surface whichengages the upper side of the dia hragm or wall containing the passage5, lea ing to the nozzles ofthe adacent stage. The upper surface; of thevalve is cored out to receive a nut 25, through which the actuator 26'extends. The actuator is guided by the valve itself and extends througha packing-'27, supported by the cas ing, and is moved manuallyor-otherwi'se.

Ioo

Rotating the actuator causes the valve to move in or out, depending uponthedirec tion of rotation. he-valve or valves may be located betweensections of the base 19, or

it or they may be located in openings formed therein. The valve may beoperated hand or by motors under thecontrol of the same governor whichregulates the action of; the first-stage valves. The water that iscollected in the-chambe 28, which is located between the. hood andthecasing, can be drawn off in anysuitab'le manner-as, for example, by the.valved pipe 29, Fig. 2. g In accordance with the provisions'of thepatent statutes 1 have described theprinciple of operation of myinventiomitogether with the apparatus which I nowconsider to representthe best embodimentthereof; but

4o device for discharging I desireto have it understood that theapparati'is shown is only illustrative and that the invention may becarried out by other'means. What I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising intermediate buckets, two or morerows of wheel-buckets, and a device for discharging motive fluid againstthem, in combination with means presenting a smooth surface and actingon the idle buckets to reduce the rotation losses.

2. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a bucket-wheel, and-asectionalized nozzle or device for discharging motive fluid against it,in combination with a hood which is located in proximity to the idleWheel-buckets for reducing rotation losses.

. 3. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a compound bucket-wheel, and adevice for discharging motive fluid against it, in combi-- nation-witha'liood for reducing rotation losses, which comprises a Wall that issituated adjacent to the idle buckets.

4. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a casing, a bucket-wheel, and adevice for discharging motive fluid against the Wheel, in

combination with a hood having a smooth wall in close roximity to thebuckets, and a passage for ischarging the liquid given up y the motivefluid. i

5. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a casing, a bucketwheel, andadevice for discharging motive fluid against it, in combination with ahood comprisin walls situated onopposite sides of the id e buckets, andassages for discharging the liquid given up y the motive fluid. I

6. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a bucket-wheel and asectionalized nozzle or motive fluid against it, in combination with ahood comprising .Walls situated on opposite sides of the idle buckets,and awall surrounding said buckets.

1 .posite sides of the idle buckets,

or more rows of wheel-buckets and a'device as1-- is'ch'argingfmotivefluid against in combination with a means acting on 1 them,

.7. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising a bucket-wheel-and a device fordischarging motive fluid against it, in combination with ahoodicomprisingside walls situated on opan end wall surrounding saidbuckets, and a discharge.- passage forrthe liquid given up by the m0-tive fluid. v

. .8. An elastic-fluid turbine comprising two having a group ofclosely-associated sages-for the idle buckets of each of the wheels torev, duce' rotation losses, and a support which is 6,07

common to the said means.

9. Anielastic-fluid turbine comprisin two hood comprising Walls whichcover the idle support common and a support w end buckets, other wallswhich cover'those between the ends, and a supportwhich is.

common to all of the walls.

1 0.- An elastic fluid turbine j comprising two or more rows ofwheel-buckets and'a device for discharging motive fluid against them incombination with a hood made up of segmental side walls and se wallswhich cover the idle buc ets, and a segmental.

11. An elastic -fluid turbine comprising separate wheel compartments orshells ,-buck ets carried on the wheel-peripheries,nozzles fordischarging the motive fluid in an axial direction, a plurality ofdischarging devices for directing fluid into the adjacentstage of lowerpressure,'and a conduit or passa e for to the walls, which is alsomental end conveying motive fluid from the'centra part of aWheel-chamber to: the saiddischarging devices. i

12. An elastic-fluid turbine comprisingyga bucket-wheel and a device fordischarging fluid against it, in combination witha means acting as acover or hood for the idle buckets,

and an outwardly-extending conduit or passage-way. discharging motivefluid; 1

13. An elastic-fluid turbine comprisinga bucket-wheel and a device fordischarging motive fluid against it, in combination with-a hood for theidle buckets, a plurality of out- 'wardly-extendin duits orpassage-ways.

I 14. An elastic-fluid turbine 'comprisinga bucket-wheel and devices for"discharging.

conduits or pa'ssageway's, ich is common to theconmotive fluid againstit,in-cornbinajtionwith* a means for preventing eddying of the "motivefluid in the planeof the wheel? i 15. An elastic -fluidfturbinecomprising;

separate stages,

each stage, and a wall or plate located in one stage for preventingeddying of thG mOtlV6 fluid in the plane of the wheelas passes from onestage to another.

bucket-wheel, a devicefor'discharging mm'itive I 05 fluid-discharging"devices for 1 fluid against it, anda casing, incombination with a meansfor reducing eddyingof the mo-fl tive fluid within the casing; andconduiteor passage-ways for "conveying motive fluid fror'n'the'cent'er'of the compartmentsto the periphery; 17 An two or more rows of'wheel bucke'ts, "a compartment the iwheel; in combinatiom witl'i -"aagainst the buckets, in 'combinationwith a elastic} fluid 2 turbine;"comprising Y 120 which is common tothe said-rows, and a nozzle? fordischarging motive'ifluid' against means "locatedIi-n close proximitytothe' idle wheel bucketsv ,for'f reducing "the; rotation 'lossesf-h lor more rows of Wheel-buckets and a evice D elastic-fluid turbine ams-sa for discharging rows of wheel-buckets, a compartmentthere for,'an'da nozzlefor discharging motive'fluid 16. An elastic-fluidturbinecomprising a wall which is located between the idle buckets ofadjacent rows in each compartment and acts on both of them to reduce therotation losses.

19. An elasticfluid turbine comprisinga plurality of wheels strung onthe same shaft,

a casing for the wheels, a nozzle for discharging motive fluid againstthe wheelbuckets, in combination, with a means for decreasing therotation losses, which is carried by thewheel at a point near theperiphery for cutting off the s ace between them, and a means whichclose y surrounds the idle wheel-buckets for further decreasing therotation losses.

20. "In: an elastic-fluid turbine, the combination of a casing,a wallfor dividing the easing into compartments, a.' valve which rests p onthe wall and controls the passage from one f side of the wall tothe'other, a screw-threaded actuator, and a nut on the actuator, whichengages the valve. I

21. In an elastic-fluid turbine, the combination of'a casing, a wall fordividing the easing into compartments, a valve which rests on the walland controls the passage of fluid from one compartment to another,an.actuator for the valve, which extends through thevalve and is guidedthereby, and a means engaging the actuator and valve for moving thelatter.

7 22. In an elasticfluid turbine, the combi-v nation of a casing, abucket-wheel, a hood 'or inclosure for idle buckets for reducingrotation losses, and a chamber between the hood or inclosure and thecasing, in which the ex- .haust motive fluid is given an opportunity todischarge the moisture due to expansion.

23. In an elastic-fluid turbine, the combi-- nation'of acasing-relatively movable buckets and a discharging device, a meansacting to reduce the rotation losses of idle buckets, a chamberreceiving exhaust fluid from the buckets, and discharging devices inwhich the moisture due to expansion is separated from the fluid.

24. In an elastic-fluid turbine, the combination of a casing, relativelymovable buckets and a discharging device, a hood for reducing. therotationlosses of idle buckets comprising walls situatedin closeproximity thereto, and; a. chamber surrounding the" bucketsand hoodwhich receives exhaust fluid and aflords'an opportunity for the moistureand vapor to separate. v 25. An elastic fluid turbine comprising two ormore rows of wheel-buckets in the the remaining portion of the wheelwhich presents smooth and unbroken walls to the-movable buckets forpreventing rotation losses.

27. An elastic fluid turbine, comprising two o'r'm'ore rows of movablebuckets, a device which discharges motive fluid against a limited numberof the buckets, a wall or in-' closure adjacent the ends of the buckets,and means projecting from thesaid wall into the space between the rowsof buckets, the portion of the means in the path of the motive fluidhaving passages which receive the motive fluid from the preceding rowand after changing its direction discharge it against the succeeding rowof'- buckets, the remaining portion of said means serving to preventrotation losses.-

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of April,1904.

' -WILLIAM L. R. EMM'IC'I. Witnesses:

' BENJAMIN B. HULL, 'IIELEN Onronn.

6 partially around the.wheel, and a means-between the rows of-bucketsextending around

